America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning

Re:America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning by tspike on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @02:59PM (#15656380)

There's no way the returns on investing in making the mall a pleasurable place to hang out in the short term outweigh the costs, but if people depended on malls as part of their area's social fabric, I doubt they would be facing this kind of longer-term decline.

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Re:America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning by jacobolus on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @04:01PM (#15656987)

This is why it’s tragic to have the primary public gathering spaces be privately owned and controlled with little insight or accountability from the public, only accessible by car and therefore cut off from the rest of the community by an ocean of parking lots and wide pedestrian-unfriendly streets.

The mall only cares about ROI, and providing a nice space for someone to sit and read a book, play hide and seek, host a club meeting, or stage a free play has little obvious monetary value.

Whatever amenities are provided will be carefully balanced against direct extra spending they bring in, instead of abstract civic improvement.

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Re:America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning by replicatorblog on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @03:44PM (#15656807)

This really depends on which mall you go to. The Mall of America is not far off of Disney's Epcot center in terms of the amenities it provides. The Galleria in Houston is almost a city unto itself. I remember seeing a bridal party walking through it once, I'm guessing there was a chapel or function hall inside. A typical mall in Tampa, Florida, or Salem, NH has less charm, but those areas aren't working from a high base to begin with.

In dense urban areas, malls tend towards the high end and can be quite nice. The Shops at Copley Place in Boston is fairly high end in terms of shops and the architecture is nice. The Westfield in SF is nice in my recollection.

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Re:America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning by collinmanderson on Thursday November 09, 2017 @10:40AM (#15663277)

Yup. Mall of America literally has a zoo (Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium) and an indoor amusement park.

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Re:America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning by wahern on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @03:47PM (#15656835)

People do depend on malls as part of their area's social fabric. That's more true today than when Mall Rats was filmed, even though it's less cool now. It's the social fabric itself, not just the malls, which is disintegrating. Suburbia was never economically sustainable.

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Re:America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning by ethbro on Wednesday November 08, 2017 @05:56PM (#15657935)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14400448

This has been discussed here before, and seems to be a bit of a blind spot for HN. Imagine you live in a place where there's only one "mall" nearby: that's most of America (geographically speaking).

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